RESUMO
Background: Recently, great advances in the quality of careregarding type 1 diabetes have been achieved. Despite of that,glycemic control remains suboptimal for many patients withtype 1 diabetes even in Western countries.Objectives: To identify rate and predictors of glycemic controlamong type 1 diabetic patients in Tabuk Region, Saudi Arabia.Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carriedout in Tabuk city, Saudi Arabia. All type 1 diabetic patientsattending the military hospital in Tabuk throughout the studyperiod (December, 2018-February, 2019) constituted the targetpopulation for the study. Data collection questionnairedeveloped by the researcher and validated by threeDiabetology consultants (face validity) was used. Glycosylatedhemoglobin (HBA1c) Levels above 8%, independent of agewas considered as poor control, and levels below or equal 8%were considered as acceptable control.Results: The study included 150 type 1 diabetic patients. Theirage ranged between 8 months and 27 years with amean±standard deviation of 15.44±4.73 years. The prevalenceof poor glycemic control among type 1 DM patients was 70.7%.Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed thatadmission to the hospital twice or more than twice wereassociated with higher risk of poor glycemic control (Adjustedodds ratio (AOR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were2.19, 1.03-8.01 (p=0.046) and 3.02, 1.79-11.13 (p=0.009),respectively. With increase in age at diagnosis of type 1 DMby one year, there was a reduction in poor glycemic control by38% (AOR=0.62, 95% CI=0.54-0.71, p<0.001) while withincrease in the duration of diabetes by one year, the risk ofpoor glycemic control increased by 31% (AOR=1.31, 95%CI=1.09-1.98, p=0.001). Non availability of glucose test devicewas associated with almost 4-folds risk of poor glycemiccontrol (AOR=4.12, 95% CI=2.23-5.03, p=0.007). Conclusion:Majority of type 1 diabetic patients in Tabuk Region, KSA hadpoor glycemic control. Many factors were associated with poorcontrol, some of them are modifiable. Therefore, efforts mustbe done to overcome these factors.